Tomas Elliot

... Ninetales gets Psyshock? Heck I had no idea, of course Psyshock is better than Extrasensory, as Hariyama (which is the reason for carrying a Psychic-type move in the first place) is always seen with Assault Vest nowadays, meaning that a move hitting its physical defense will always deal more damage than a move hitting its special defense... Thanks for pointing that out, I'll edit the OP immediately! That aside, thank you for the positive feedback, I appreciate it: I have always been fond of Ninetales, so I was glad when it was given a way to capitalize on its strange stat distribution... And the fact that most people won't see it coming only adds to it!

Updated the OP with Gen 6 sprites, and tweaked Feraligatr's EVs as Jelly suggested!

Sigmund Connal fits most of the magnificent bastard qualities most associated with Norio's characters. Alternatively, I can see El as a large ham. EDIT: yes I know you already have actors for both, but those are the ones that seem more fitting... The only unassigned one that I can see working is the dominant personality of ZEL, with the other two personalities possibly sounding more silly and childish... It could actually be rather funny...

I notice a distinctive lack of Norio Wakamoto in your cast. A story without a great villain is not a good story. A villain without Norio Wakamoto is not a great villain. So sorry, but I cannot possibly approve of this project

Oh God here we go, I can feel it. I can feel the emotional rush I always feel right before writing an overly long post. Much apologies to you for maybe getting too much involved in something that does not concern me, and to the other people who are posting in this discussion as I type, whose posts I'll inevitably ignore. So, our relationship has begun a few days ago, when I contacted you via private message to tell you about some crazy project of mine: we aren't exactly long time friends, are we? Still, the more I talk to you, the more I feel I can relate to you: I am probably the last person who should have the right to say this, but I think I know what you are going through, and I wish there was something concrete I could do to help you or at least to show you my solidarity... I would be content with knowing that I am managing to be a good friend for you, even if maybe this is a bit presumptuous on my part, given how recently we have become acquainted (not to mention that we don't even know one another outside of a Pokemon forum). You see, the fact is that as I kid I was bullied. There were a bunch of kids my age who had made their sole purpose in life to make my life miserable, and they actually got to pretty cruel extremes. I tried to tell my parents, asking them for help, I turned to teachers and to every other adult I knew: but since we were kids at the time, nobody took the situation seriously: all I was going through was nothing more than the "innocent pranks of kids", and every attempt of mine to talk about it always ended with the turn adult laughing. The problem with this is that I was born and raised in a very small town, at the top of a mountain, where maybe 300 people live: in such a place everyone is friends with everyone, and this of course includes my parents and the parents of the bullies: so I had to stand my mom having a good time with the mother of the one who was making my life a living hell, I had to stand having the bullies at my birthday parties, welcomed in my house with smiles ("Oh come on, we cannot have a party without Michela, can we? She has a son your age, aren't you happy?"), I had to stand being forced to spend every single day of my life with the people who were ruining it. And I grew up that way: only by running away, only by renting a flat in a far away city to attend university (university! The bullying had started in primary school !) was I able to finally turn my life around, make some friends, get in a romantic relationship (which didn't end well, but eh), enjoy the life. To this day, I still suffer of a heart condition caused by my body overreacting to the smallest stimuli, producing too much adrenalin and thus causing too much stress on the heart, whose muscle just cannot pump as hard as the adrenalin would induce it to do for a prolonged time: I was told that this condition is permanent, and that "it was probably caused by a severe stress or a trauma", and needless to say, my parents have no idea of what could have provoked this situation, God bless them. So yeah, I don't know what it means to have gender identity issues, but I do know what it means to suffer because of something that other people don't think is important: the feeling that you are not understood hurts more than the suffering itself. And well, if in the society in which you live (I don't even know where you are from!) there is one third of the prejudices and the bigotry we have in Italy, things are only going to get worse: if you do go through with your decision, you'll have to face that horrible monster with multiple heads, known as bureaucracy. And God knows how frustrating bureaucracy can be. Now, I wish my experience had taught me something useful to suggest to you, but the fact is that it hasn't: all I have learned from the crap I have been through is how to run away. And of course a forum like this is a good refuge, people are gentle and understanding, and there is the anonymity of the nickname, allowing you to be honest about your situation without showing your face. But when the chip are down, you are on your own: you are changing name, gender, life (not unlike how I buried my past when I finally made it to university), and you are doing it on your own, none of the people who try to be helpful in this topic (including myself) can actually help you or support you. So in the end all I have to tell you is just this: be strong. I have never been strong in my life, I have never been able to face my problems, and I "solved" them by running away: the impression I got from our converstations is that you, as a person, are stronger than me, so please be strong for the both of us. Because it is obvious that the decision has already been made, the way you worded the OP is unmistakeable: you ARE changing your name, regardless of what we say in this topic. If I can improvise myself as a psychologist, I dare say that the issue is that, deep inside, you feel that the name "Kyra" was but a game, something you did as a fun way to see how it would feel to have a female name: now that the chips are down and the change is going to be for real, you feel you need a name to reflect the maturity of your decision. Know, even if it probably doesn't mean much, that you have my full support. Please be strong.

Ah I see, I always have troubles setting EVs in speed (unless it is the mindless 252 lol), as I am still not very knowledgeable of the speed tiers. I shall test the spread you suggest

Introduction My adventures in the NU tier continue. Those who know me (as in, really know me) also know that I am a lover of roleplaying. When I play a RPG, I want to feel the part, I want to really live my character as hif his life was my own... And because of this, I have always wanted to create a Pokemon team that I could really feel as mine, a team that I could use in a game and in the competitive scene alike, to really feel that, upon playing competitively, I am expanding and deepening the game experience, to truly live the RPG experience of a Pokemon game; a team that I could be able to include in my signature here on Reborn, and say "ehi, this is my team". Not "the team of the character in the game", not "the team I use on the ladder": MY team. Unfortunately, I have never been able to achieve this, because usually teams built to beat a Pokemon game have little competitive value (if at all) and, vice-versa, teams built to be competitive hardly keep in mind in-game needs... Untill the other day I re-played through Pokemon Soul Silver (a personal favorite): after a bit of work, I was able to put together a team consisting of Feraligatr, Ninetales, Vileplume, Sandslash, Granbull, and the special Dragonite that knows Extremespeed, which is given to you as a gift at some point. From my latest experiences in the NU tier, I knew that 5 of those Pokemon were not only allowed in that tier, but had also the potential to be very effective in it. So yeah, I just replaced Dragonite with my beloved NU sweeper Malamar, I tweaked the movesets a bit with competitive needs in mind, and that is how this team was born. At a glance This team doesn't look particularly intimidating or particularly effective, but somehow it works. It was able to carry me to some decent peak before I stopped going on Showdown a couple of days ago (I am preparing an exam for university, so no time to waste...), and in general it can address most situations you'll find yourself in when playing NU. As the diversity and complexity of nowadays competitive scene (in general, not just in NU) is constantly increasing, the idea is not to address all the possible threats from a defensive point of view (I have found that having a safe switch-in for everything is almost impossible): rather, what you are trying to do here is to address all the possible threats from an offensive point of view. Simply put, the idea is to use your 4 bulky Pokemon (and Stealth Rock) to take a hit, strike back, and force switches, in order to wear down the opposition: when the occasion presents itself, send out one of the two sweepers and start attacking. Feraligatr and Malamar have similar checks (for example, bulky Grass-type mons, Mantine and Qwilfish/Weezing are often used against both), so the idea is that to send out one mid-game, and just keep on attacking untill it is brought down. At this point, the checks the opponent used against it will probably be so worn out, that the other will be able to come in and succesfully pull off a sweep. Of course now I am putting it in very simplicistic terms: in practice, it takes much more skill and strategy to consistently pull off such a gameplan, but yeah, this is more or less the basic idea... @ Leftovers Ability: Torrent EVs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 72 Spe Adamant Nature - Swords Dance - Waterfall - Aqua Jet - Ice Punch If you play NU, you know this guy. Bulky SD is quickly becoming the most common set for Feraligatr, and for a damn good reason: the sheer amount of fast-yet-fragile threats that are prospering in the tier nowadays requires you to carry at least one priority user, and between its decent bulk and its access to Swords Dance, Feraligatr is perfect for the role, as it can just come into something that cannot beat it one-on-one, use a Swords Dance on the switch, and then just steamroll through most teams, using Aqua Jet to put the hurt on anything it cannot outspeed. Having decent staying power on top of fantastic offensive presence, Feraligatr is ideal to "soften up" enemy walls as part of the aforementioned strategy, so that Malamar can come in and finish the job later. Or, if the opponent has Pokemon that are frail but can boost their own speed and resist Superpower (Vivillon comes to mind), you can do the reverse: use Malamar to "soften up" opposition, and then explot Feraligatr's priority to finish the job. And you can rest assured, your faithful starter will do a great job either way. @ Assault Vest Ability: Flash Fire EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD Modest Nature - Fire Blast - Dark Pulse - Psyshock - Energy Ball As Andy Warhol would say, the 15 minutes of celebrity are over. All but forgotten for 4 long generations, Ninetales suddenly became a prominent OU force in Gen 5 thanks to Drought, but now that Gen 6 has nerfed weather (and given us a much better OU Drought user in Mega Charizard Y), our beloved kitsune has fallen to the bottom of the food chain once again. But the very generation that took away its moment of glory also gave it a new toy to play with: Assault Vest. Ninetales is a strange Pokemon: it has an immense special movepool, but its SpAtk, while decent, is not that great, while its SpD is very good, but not backed by a good support movepool nor by an adequate HP stat to be a full-on defensive Pokemon. Assault Vest allows you to invest all your EVs in SpAtk and HP and still have a very good SpD, netting you a rather bulky Pokemon that also has a strong offensive presence. And the "must run 4 offensive moves" limitation hardly matters, because Ninetales has a fantastic movepool to pick from. Fire Blast is the main STAB, Dark Pulse is for bulky Psychic-type mons that can take Fire Blast but cannot pose an immediate threat for Ninetales (Grumpig for example), Psyshock is for Hariyama (dealing more damage than the specially-oriented Extrasensory, because most Hariyama sets nowadays carry Assault Vest) and Energy Ball is for Seismitoad (which is OHKOed by it). With Assault Vest, you'll be able to shrug off the coverage moves of every Fire-type special attacker not named Camerupt, and Flash Fire will give you immunity to their main STAB: I honestly believe this is something that gives Ninetales a niche over, say, Typhlosion or Magmortar, while being better than Heatmor at this job thanks to better bulk and the ability to hurt Hariyama and Seismitoad. Please do keep it mind however that, while Psyshock deals more damage to Hariyama than Extrasensory, thus allowing you to seriously hurt it if you predict right on the switch, Ninetales will still lose to Hariyama in a one-on-one situation, so do not carelessly stay in if Hariyama gets a free switch-in... @ Black Sludge Ability: Effect Spore EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD Calm Nature - Giga Drain - Sludge Bomb - Synthesis - Aromatherapy Vileplume is a useful Pokemon to have. Capable of beating virtually any other Grass-type in the tier (including the dreaded Serperior), with great special bulk, offensive moves that hit decentrly hard and help keep in check the few yet relevant Fairy-type threats, and the ability to keep itself and its companions healthy, which never hurts. Aromatherapy is particularly important because both the sweepers used for the aforementioned "wear down and break through" strategy are very afraid of being burned: granted, Ninetales can safely switch into most WoW users, but that's not the only way a guy can get statused: for example, there is Magmortar's ability... @ Leftovers Ability: Sand Veil EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def Impish Nature - Earthquake - Knock Off - Rapid Spin - Stealth Rock The dev team really thinks of everything. In the very generation they introduced a stronger, virtually unstoppable way of removing entry hazards, they also improved Knock Off and gave it to most users of Rapid Spin, to give them an edge over ghosts and make sure they stay relevant. Sandslash is very good at its job: bulky, with good offensive presence, with the ability to set up SR and remove those set by the opponent, and its tendency to lure in Mismagius for Knock Off to cripple. And the ability to take a lot of hits from most things people usually use as leads nowadays doesn't hurt, either.Once it has done its job, it is the number one choice for sacking, but this is something that shouldn't be done carelessly: always plan ahead before doing anything, resource management is vital with this kind of teams... @ Leftovers Ability: Intimidate EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def Impish Nature - Play Rough - Roar - Thunder Wave - Protect Granbull has been a mainstay in all my teams since I started playing NU. I just happen to like the guy, and a bulky Fairy-type (with Intimidate to boot) in a tier full of physically offensive Fighting-type mons doesn't hurt either.In a previous thread I was advised against using Roar, but after giving a try to countless other moves (Crunch, Fire Fang, Seismic Toss, Earthquake) I honestly have to say I wasn't satisfied with any of them: on the other hand, Roar can come in handy in many different occasions, and in general it is good to have a phazer nowadays, with all those set-up sweepers and Baton Passers around. Thunder Wave is particularly important, as it gives a crucial help to Feraligatr and Malamar, as part of the aforementioned strategy. @ Choice Scarf Ability: Contrary EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Superpower - Knock Off - Psycho Cut - Switcheroo And here it is, my current favorite Pokemon. I have used this exact same set in the past, however in this team I don't Switcheroo away my Choice Scarf as often: once opponents have been worn out by the rest of the team, locking yourself into Superpower is nice to push for victory. In general, if the opponent has even one Pokemon that is naturally faster than Malamar, you are better off keeping the Choice Scarf: only use Switcheroo against full stall teams, where the payoff is just too big to ignore it, and most Pokemon can be outrun anyway... It is important to notice that the 3 offensive moves have perfect neutral coverage, so it is very hard for opponents to switch into Malamar: granted, they'll most likely asume you are going to spam Superpower and act accordingly, but if you can correctly predict this, chances are you'll be able to punch some serious holes in the opposing team, something that is particularly important to do when it is Malamar who is paving the way for Feraligatr, and not the other way around... Conclusions I always say the same stuff in this last part... Feel free to try for yourself, do not point out problems without suggesting solutions, keep in mind the balance (and, in this case, the spirit) of the team when suggesting a change, avoid picking fights, etc etc etc... Importable below.

Happy to see that you did get to a "breather episode" in the end: thanks to Elesa's exposition, now the whole situation is starting to make sense... Can't wait to learn more about these freakish Veins guys!

You asked that to a guy who is possibly the biggest fan of the franchise (note my avatar/signature). I cannot possibly provide a non-biased answer lol

I shall take this as a reference to Disgaea's own Mid-Boss and his expies in subsequent titles... Are you a fan of the series?

*is a fan of Disgaea* I had been meaning to ask you what would be of this community after Reborn for a while now. Happy to see you had planned ahead. You can count on me for the "stick around and continue to support" part, in fact, I have always wanted to contribute to the development of Reborn's storyline, and the only reason why I never offered to do so is that I felt that I was late to the party, having joined when most aspects of the plot were already set in stone. This new game might be my occasion. So yeah, looking forward to it! EDIT: by the way, is this new project going to be another fangame akin to Reborn, in that it is a fanmade project based on an existing game, or is it going to be something entirely original? Asking because the title "Starlight Divide" is not familiar to me, but it might be due to my own ignorance... EDIT EDIT: is the forum going to be renamed once Reborn is over and Starlight takes central stage?

Personally, I like the first better, but it would take too long to explain why. The second is still a great game nonetheless, even if to be honest, I rarely pay attention to anything that goes on in it, as my mind is completely full of "OMG OMG MIR PLAYABLE OMG OMG"... Which by the way is probably what the developers were banking on in the hope that a few plot holes would go unnoticed Mandatory question: I know that the fact you can pair the protagonist with a different girl each time is what makes 98% of the replay value of the game, but do you have an OTP for each game? Mine would be Misha for the first because I relate to her situation (and I have spent 3 years of my life with an Aurica-type as girlfriend before breaking up in a painful way, so I've had enough of those), and Mir in the second because, come on, it's friggin' Mir. I just like to imagine her in one of those cartoonish fights girls have over the protagonist in harem animes: "I can cook for him!" "I can understand his deepest feelings!" "I CAN EXTERMINATE 70% OF HUMAN POPULATION IF HE TURNS ME DOWN!"

"I still love the thing" is actually an understatement for me, this is the only series capable of making me go full-on fangirl mode, and I am a guy... Disgaea is possibly the only franchise that can get me as emotionally involved as Ar Tonelico can, but well, that doesn't actually involve getting emotional, given that Disgaea games re more of the parodistic/funny kind... So yeah, I can proudly declare Ar Tonelico games are the only ones that manage to truly make me get emotional every single time I play them. The only problem is that I have no home consoles whatsoever: I can emulate PS2 games on my computer, and this saved me in Disgaea's case because I have a PsVita, so between the emulators and the Vita ports I am able to play the whole franchise... But In Ar Tonelico's case there's no Vita port of the third game, so I can only play the first two ;-;

OMG this is the first time I get to meet another person who is passionate about Ar Tonelico! At long last, I am not alone anymore *tears of joy*

I was about to send you a private mesage to ask this, then I realized that posting in thi topic was easier, more polite, and wouldn't make me come off as a stalker: is your nickname a reference to Ar Tonelico 2 ?